When SXM “Sportszone” program director Tim Sabean pulled Costa off the air Wednesday, Dino’s days were numbered. He was yanked for being himself, going on an entertaining riff (it wasn’t the first time) about how his bosses wanted to change him, turn him into someone only capable of robotic sports recitations with no depth or imagination.

Whoever threw Costa off SXM’s Ship of Fools never understood they had a singularly unique personality, a yakker who built and maintained a cult following and more. Instead of building on that foundation, they tore down the house, burned it, then celebrated their own stupidity.

Costa said he is “more than proud” of what he accomplished in his five years at SXM, and what he delivered to an audience looking for a “radical departure” in sports talk.

“I have zero regrets,” Costa said. “Hopefully the next time SXM runs into a talent such as myself they’ll know how to go about promoting that talent and maximizing the skills of a guy like me.”

So where does Costa go from here? There might be some opportunities with NBC and CBS launching radio networks.

But after what SiriusXM experienced, will they want to put up with Dino?

really? dumb move! He was the best sports talk guy you had. You guys blew this one big time. All these other bozos only tell you everything you already know, not Dino. That’s why he was great to hear. Wake up before it’s to late, and put the great one back on or you can kiss my subscription good bye when it runs out. He;s like money in the bank and your to dumb to know it.

Good move getting rid of Dino. I never understood the big hoopla about Dino. Once a week he would complain about his contract for an entire show, with callers calling in about his contract. Then he would complain about his bosses the next day. He did nothing but complain about how everything affected him. Very rare would he talk sports. Otherwise it was what he wanted to do with sports talk, but never doing. His show was just a modern day Lenny Bruce bitch fest.

While Dino Costa was somewhat entertaining and certainly opinionated in the extreme, his crime – if there was one – is that many of his rants defied common sense, good logic and simple fairness.
For an example: His stance against pro football trying to become a bit safer in a very dangerous game essentially stated that players should accept the risks they were forced by their profession to accept and shut up about the history of mental injuries. Specifically, he was aghast that injured players would stoop to sue the NFL – – despite the severe mental illnesses that have come to light in recent years, despite the cover ups by NFL managment that also have been brought to light– becauase all such players were “biting the hands that fed them.”
Costa saw this as unconscionable, based, as he often stated– on his own selfish preference to see football played, with the gladiator mentality it “used to be played.”
Another of his rants often focused his criticisms on women sports. At their core, his views were so negative and hostile, completely without any redeeming constructive value. And, as dkiscriminating listeners realized such views obviously were aimed at the yahoos in his audience who would second the motion for any such view as if t their agreement with him promoted their own masculinity.
Also: Costa’s self indulging commentaries, which usually could be heard once or twice a night, were overburdened by so much self praise and unfair ridicule of other talk show hosts. While I would be the last person to say that many sports talk shows are filled with deep thinking and provocative commentary worth review, Costa made this a rallying point beyond anything fair.
He could not help himself it seemed but to always denyi the possiblity that rational points of view were ever expressed anywhere else and he carried this extremely high, completely absurd point of view to the point of conjuring up phony ‘wars’ with Chritopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo over Russo’s points of view, despite the fact that Russo was the man for whom XM radio created the station Costa was appeared on. Beynd honest differences being expressed, this reeked of a self promtioonal charade to inflate his own ego, many times a week.
Costa’s rants against management may have been the straw that broke the Camel’s back, but he problably will wear his firing as a false symbol of his uniqueness, serving no positive lesson to him, or to Mad Dog Radio, or the XM/Sirius Satellite network primarily because his firing came long after he had exposed himself as a loud-mouth-know -it all, with little tolerance for opposing views and a dogmatic attitude that turned off more listeners than he or the ratings people can possibly count.
I tuned him in from time to time and usually had to tune him out within 15 minutes almost every time I made that mistake.
As for Russo, he probably was at his best when joined at the hip with Mike Francesca on WFAN in New Yorkj for two decades, but his interviews with top sports personalities on his station still are among the best on radio or TV and in my view, he still produices excellent hours of very good talk-show radio many times a month. At the bottom line, Russo does not deserve the harsh criticism he is getting from Costa’s band of malcontented followers who ignored the latter’s extreme negativity. Sadly, that is a loose, but real statement about our great country in the here and now.
We have way too many extremely disenfranchised, disatisfied people walking amongst us and a good percentage of them tend to support the views of other malcontents and extrmists like Costa wherever they surface.
Costa probably will resurface somewhere; but I doubt seriously he will have learned anything from his dismissal.
Steve Davidowitz
Author of the Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing.

Completely agree. He was interesting to listen to ( at times) but it was very obvious that his show was more about himself and self-promotion. Also, his right wing views, and his unwillingness to give any credit to those with differing views, made him sound like a jerk and a bully. He will never be a successful mainstream radio or TV personality because he does not have self control and an ability to empathize with those with different view. I suspect that he is a closet racist and a misogynist.

I loved Dino’s show! Best sports talk show on SiriusXM! Who the hell is programming Sirius/XM anyways? The only alternative we had to Mad Dog Radio during the daytime was ESPN NY and now that’s gone too,
having been replaced by soccer/horse racing. Someone explain!

Huge mistake firing Dino Costa. He has an immense following and has done so without any support from SXM at all. His rants are intriguing and are an option for those of us who pay for subscriptions.

Censorship is why Stern left broadcast radio and found solace on satellite. So if the subscribers of satellite are now being forced to listen to vanilla radio what’s the difference and why should pay for subscriptions??

I have a real decision to make next month as far as renewing my SXM subscription, as I’m sure thousands of other subscribers do as well.

DINO FIRED AGAIN! You have to be kidding! Dino Costa is a very unique personality and talk show host. His knowledge of all sports is always very impressive. I came across his show one evening after listening to Mad Dog Russo, and from the first time I heard him I was hooked. It was so refreshing to hear a sports announcer just speak from the heart on all topics without any restraints. His monologues were just riveting. I became a fan instantly. I hope that some station has the guts to hire him and publicize his show front and center. He has the potential to raise ratings instantly with his loyal fan base. Dino’s show is radio at it’s compelling and insightful best! Get Dino back in front of a microphone! His old fans will follow and if his show is properly promoted he would not only compete with any of the dull drab sports show hosts out there he would eventually exceed them and all expectations there of! Listen up radio executives: Take a chance on Dino Costa, stick with him and in the end you will be rewarded. We need Dino Costa back on the radio!!!

I miss Dino but he had gotten boring since moving to the daytime. He was better suited to night-time air. Anyway, with him gone and Mad Dog reduced to 3 hours/day, there is very little reason to renew my Sirius subscription.

I agree. I really enjoyed listening to him at night. Dino was the most fun too listen to since Pete Franklin in Cleveland. I listen to be entertained, not that his views are spot on. It was fun to hear someone so anti PC for a change.

Dino was the best radio talk sports host on SiriusXM. What were they thinking? He was knowledgeable, factual and most of all entertaining. They should reconsider and not only put him back on the air but give him a prime time slot instead of the airheads that have filling those slots now!!!!

I will be dumping my SiriusXM subscription when it runs out. These people are idiots. Next to Stern, Dino Costa is the biggest personality there is and they haven’t a clue. I will look at it as them doing me a favor. I don’t pay the subscripition fee and I listen to TuneIn and IHeart Radio. Goodbye SXM and good riddance. What a missed opportunity.

Can’t believe Dino is gone from sirius xm. Well then so is my subscription. Seeya xm. Dino was (and is) the best entertainment on xm. Got sick of all the other sports guys other than JT (maybe he’s next).

I agree. Why in the hell did Sirius take so much crap from this guy? I would fired this guy years ago. I would rather listen to Scott who does the weekend sports shows on Mad dog radio over Dino any day. I don’t think the radio guys have to toe the company line but I also don’t see any reason for the daily ranting and raving that Dino insisted in showcasing, all for his own benefit. Any one can be an asshole but it takes a real talent to be thoughtful,entertaining, and engaging even with those who may not see eye to eye with him.

Like so many others I too will be dropping sxm radio. I met Dino twice broke bread with him, went to a baseball game with him. And an advet caller of the show . And I can tell you this much he speaks from the heart and there is no sctick .Hey Sirius you hired Russo now hire Franseca that seems to be the kind of show you guys want. The people who pay for Sirius want Dino back…….good way to shoot yourselfs in the foot.
Good riddens Sirius X.M.

Like so many others I too will be dropping sxm radio. I met Dino twice broke bread with him, went to a baseball game with him. And an advet caller of the show . And I can tell you this much he speaks from the heart and there is no sctick .Hey Sirius you hired Russo now hire Franseca that seems to be the kind of show you guys want. The people who pay for Sirius want Dino back…….good way to shoot yourselfs in the foot….
Good riddens Sirius X.M.

Plenty of blame to go around here. First off, I agree with everything written about this unfortunate situation, especially the part about Howard. SXM is missing a big opportunity here. However, Dino must accept some accountability for this. By his third show on SportsZone he already was complaining about the hours, the station, the other shows on the station. He could blow away an entire hour being the Victim. Instead of getting down to the business of making SportsZone the channel that SHOULD be built around him and working with what he had, he immediately began complaining about what he didn’t have. Whining, complaining to the point where it just became boring. Like a child who doesn’t get what he wants. In real life, very few people get what they want by harshly criticizing and insulting their employer. He should stop complaining about his raw deal and go out, in a constructive manner, get a better one. Dino is an amazing talent, he is a marvelous interviewer his monologues are compelling, his topics are timely. He’s the I’ve ever heard in 50+ years of listening to radio. I will sorely miss him. What I won’t miss is the Victim, the anger and constant negativity.

I agree entirely. When Dino spoke about sports, the show was awesome. When Dino spoke about Dino, the show suffered mightily. I would turn to Dino on Maddog on the way home. If he was speaking about sports, I listened; if he was playing the Victim, I changed channels. I was hopeful his move to morning radio on another channel would do the trick. Early on the new channel, Dino seemed to have it dialed in; but within a short time, it was back to the incessant complaining about his plight. Shame.

I have been following him on Twitter and signed up for his newsletter. He has been promising a “new multi platform format” but seems to lose backing all too regularly – he’s on his 3rd backer a guy who owns an irrigation company and now he’s haranguing us about not getting THAT guy more followers. Sadly he recently began soliciting financial support for his new venture directly to his Twitter followers. His Tweets have become crazier and crazier, he really seems like he’s on the edge. I still like him but he’s making it more and more difficult. Too bad.

Agree with the earlier poster comparing Dino to Stern. Dino can’t possibly do his normal show on regular radio and needs an outlet like Satellite. Very short-sighted on Sirius’s part, they should strive to be different yet ultimately end up with the same talk we can get anywhere. So what is the benefit to paying $15/mo for the same thing you can get free over the air????

If you want the truth then there’s only one man one very good man Dino Costa always gave it from the gut but it’s hard to survive in radio by telling the truth his fearless independent radio can only come from him he’s a talking Marconi to me Dino is a radio host with priceless talent that you will never hear again unless he’s comes back he will be missed by me. I will only listen to real non fiction radio and Dino gave us that everyday.

Dino Costa Dino gave radio from the gut it’s hard to stay in radio when you speak the truth Dino gave us that everyday there will never be a radio host like dino Costa again his talent is priceless he will be sorely missed Tom Arietta.

Disappointed to hear this. Dino is the only show I actively seek out on the internet or in my car. For crying out loud he was the only reason other than Mag Dog (who I’ve been listening to since the late 80’s) to tune to Channel 86. Other than to listen to the Red Sox call of the World Series.

Didn’t hear his rant but am definitely disappointed to find that he’s gone.

I didn’t agree with everything he said but agreed with him for the most part. Dino was one of those guys that transcended his industry. It was too easy for him, he was too real. He had no mercy or compassion for others in his industry that he felt had weaker mentality than him (so basically everyone besides him)
He told the truth how he saw it no matter what the topic was. He tied “sports radio” into every other topic (seemingly effortlessly) Listening to the guy was certainly a breath of fresh air in the watered down post 9/11…. Pc…. media. He was one of those guys who cared so much about freedom of thought, that to him it was more important to remind, or teach others that “al queda” isn’t under your bed at night… than it was to remind us who won or lost the game last night. He did it all…. Thankful to have been working in my car for a couple years, the same years he was on Sirius. I own a business now. I work internationally. I do very well. Have invented a product and more… and it’s people like Dino Costa who encourage success. It is all the other watered down hosts, celebrities (people with influence) that offer you nothing. Dino Costa had no respect or compassion for anyone, that was his problem.

Dino Costa is the most intriguing sports talk radio host I have ever come across! Not only are his views and opinions on the world of sports unique he also has a way of elaborating on issues outside of the sports world that can be just as compelling! I have been listening to Dino Ever since he started with channel 86! I couldn’t believe they let him go and even worse the new station he was aired on did nothing whatsoever to promote the best radio talent we have heard in decades! What a disgrace! Its a shame that a talent like Dino’s can’t get a break! I am praying for you Dino and I hope you will find someone that will recognize your talents and abilities as much as we your fans do!!!

Dino was a very polarizing personality with strong, well thought out opinions. Whether you agreed or disagreed he was a must listen compared to the other idiots (aka Francessa) out there.
He was much better at 7PM then he was in the morning, though. I think he was trying to hard in the morning and the shows tended to be all about him, too much bragging.

Let me guess…you’re atheistic liberal elitist anti-constitutionalists who only watches MSNBC. My bad….should have given myself more credit than that…not guessing. That is who you are. God bless people like Dino Costa.

Bob Raissman hit the nail on the head:” Whoever threw Costa off SXM’s Ship of Fools never understood they had a singularly unique personality, a yakker who built and maintained a cult following and more”. –
Costa is the only one on sports radio who has an unlimited upside based on his right wing shtick. He could be Ann Coulter or Glenn Beck.

Christopher Russo understood him perfectly. Just leave him alone, in his time slot, don’t listen to him, and let him appeal to his base. Think Rush, Sen. Cruz, Sarah etc.

You must be kidding. Dino’s show was the ONLY reason to listen to Mad Dog Radio! Chris Russo is a doddering old fool. The show that replaced Dino is called “Sports Bites” with Steve Torre. It is really lame. Like a bowl of cold tapioca pudding compared to a filet mignon. He got the gig by kissing Russo’s ass on the air the last few years. I will be left with ESPN, ugh. I will probably just listen to NFL radio when I have Sirius on

There is no question that Dino is a talented talkahow
host, but listening to Dino was like watching a train wreck which is about to happen. You just can’t turn away, and, sure enough, Dino wrecked once again. He will always blow things up, because that’s how he rolls. Once MDR hired Adam Schein the writing was on the wall for Dino. He knew it and this switch to 92 was not going to work either, principally because he had to get up at 3:30 every morning in order to start by 5 am. Dino, who used Stern and Rush as his role models, thinks he’s a star and he is…in a very small galaxy. Good luck in the podcast world, Dino. I never agreed with your politics, but you are interesting. Like a train wreck.

As Dino would say, “the most compelling sports talk show on the air”. What a shame the fools in charge at SXM couldn’t see the forest through the trees. Russo is like a Berman “he’s bumblin’ and stumblin” quote while Dino was all Smokin’ Joe Frazier on the air. What a shame. Can’t wait for him to surface elsewhere. Thanks Dino and good luck!

I am STUNNED at the repeated stupidity of those who make the schedule on Sirius XM Radio. To give an untalented know-nothing with a speech impediment like Christopher Russo one SECOND of airtime is a tragedy in itself, but to displace Dino Costa into the neverworld of broadcasting shows their ineptitude and lack of talent in SEEING talent. Admittedly, some of Dino’s rants about how good he was made me reach for the little button on the steering wheel that changes the channel, but what I ALWAYS found was that there was NOTHING WORTH LISTENING TO on any other channel! Since Dino moved to mornings, my 68 mile commute in bay area traffic was an effortless journey. I didn’t have to listen to the mind-numbing driveling of Mike and Mike (who usually spend most of their non-commercial-laden show talking about hair gel, fashion or topics unrelated to sports, never going off tangent to even remotely dissuade someone from listening or offending anyone), Evan & Phillips (really? does anyone care what these two think and they do it so POORLY … and that idiot Babchick (sp) should NEVER be allowed to utter a sound over public or private airwaves let alone reproduce … what an imbecile), the random hosts on NFL Radio (Ross Tucker can hold his own and gives decent insight at times, but the rest like Bob Papa with his “Yeah … no … yeah … I mean … you know” start to most sentences and NY Giants bias extraordinaire, Derrick Brooks with his unintelligible garbled speech, and occasionally when the 157 year old Gil Brandt graces the show with his presence and brings every listener’s usually moronic question back to the 1964 Cowboys and Roger Staubach this and Tom Landry that). Now I am set on one channel: NHL Network radio. When Dino was on in the evenings, I would switch to the San Jose Sharks game, MAYBE give a listen to the Monday Night Football game if it was of interest, sometimes listen to the Oakland A’s, but Dino was IT in the evenings. Again, maybe it was one too many rants about how good he was that finally made the mindless suits at Sirius XM terminate Dino’s show. HUGE mistake, as I don’t need to listen to the other worthless crap on Sirius XM anymore and with Pandora, iHeart radio and all the other choices out there, satellite radio just shot themselves in the foot AND heart at the same time. Like many others, I DO put my money where my mouth is and I will not renew when this subscription runs out. Fools. Visionless fools. You had the makings of a show and channel that would have changed subscription radio FOREVER and instead you build a channel around Christopher Russo, the talentless loudmouth with minimal sports knowledge that nauseates me to listen to? Allow ME to fire YOU by not renewing.

Excellent point – All the other talking heads don’t have the nads to come after Goodell like Dino did and that was just a small example of Dino’s greatness – with all the NFL programming 86 and other channels started to play it wouldn’t surprise me if Goodell’s office made 1 phone call stating they wanted Dino off the air – powerful politics make things happen everyday in this world — it’s a shame — BRING BACK DINO — I am losing interest in all things sports without him

Dino is the only sports talk show host my ears ever had the honor of listening to. Why in the hell would I pay for SXM to get the same vanilla crap I can get for free? What the hell ever happened to freedom of speech. I can understand if he was on AM/FM radio, but come on! Ever listen to the comedy channels? Stern? Lewd, crude, and offensive to some. But guess what? It’s satellite radio. I pay for this kind of entertainment. But not anymore. SXM…….kiss my ass.

I listen to a lot of sports radio and there is NO ONE, I mean NO ONE like Dino Costa when it comes to tackling controversial sports subjects. The man does his homework and he speaks from the heart, but most of all he connects with his listeners, the common man. I too will be canceling 2 SXM radios. I think they have made some bad choices lately as the content continues to decline – taking DC off the air was the last straw.

I’m sure Dino will land on his feet like he’s done so many times in the past, and I can’t wait to hear his opening hour….

Honestly? Good riddance at this point. I DID like Dino Costa, but he was shock and awe radio. He really should not do sports at this point because the main things he did on Mad Dog Radio was try to stir social or political controversy or complain about his lot in life on the radio station.

So, they gave Dino his AM radio slot, which he had been advocating for for over 3 years. He didn’t seem to get the clue that Sirius was demoting him though based on his actions.

Apparently now he didn’t get the message and continued to complain about everything, including the new AM time slot that he himself had spent dozens of hours complaining about during his show on MDR.

At this point, he is best served trying to build an audience doing podcasts because he is anything but a team player in the radio industry.

With all of that said, I am convinced that Sirius/XM is doing their best to destroy the MDR channel. Between putting on a nationally syndicated program like Dan Patrick, to putting on lame games from 7-11, it’s a sinking ship.

I cannot believe they fired Dino, well i guess I can but I thought that was the whole poitn of Dino Costa – a radical departure from the every day talk show? I also may not renew my subscription between this firing and the new lineup on mad dog radio – very very poor decisions being made

I have written (multiple times) & called SIRIUS XM with my feelings… I mentioned to them my history with them. Moving with Howard, then finding Chris Russo (I knew of him from The Fan when I could pick up the signal from PA while in my car. And by the way, I do like the doggie) sure I’ve listened to all the other lame shows. Mike & Mike, etc., etc. & I’m not even going to mention the others we know them ! I have not listened to any of them in quite awhile now. Just WTF do they really offer but mundane, boring mediocrity. It’s the same bullshit everywhere ! To conclude… I found Dino one night driving home from work after listening to Chris… My initial thoughts were who is this asshole ? Ranting on the NFL commish (how dare he) & how he thinks it will be the end to the league as we know it. Along with other topics I didn’t agree with… But, you know what… I KEPT COMING BACK TO LISTEN TO HEAR WHAT DINO HAD TO SAY… I became HOOKED & realized “that bastard” knows what he is talking about. Miss you Dino & will be a listener when you find another home.

What did you find fresh about a guy constantly telling you, not showing you with insightful commentary or informed opinion, how much better he was than his competition? Comparing himself to Howard Cosell, for god’s sake?

Dino was the best damm thing to ever happen to sports & entertainment in general!! Well listen up upper managment!! I own a fleet of long haul transport trucks. I talked with all my drivers & they all agree Without Dino theres nothing but crap on sxm So i will be canceling all 27 current subscription Asap. GOOD LUCK DINO!!

It’s ironic that SXM fires a guy who wanted to stand up for what he thought was great radio, when their highest paid employee, Howard Stern, made the most lucrative career in the history of the medium doing the exact same thing. I thought Dino was great, and there were many times when I did not agree, but his research was thorough and he was not an act. He was different in a world where too many sports gabbers are all the same.

I have 4 subscriptions to XM radio, and when they run I’m not renewing any of them. When you kicked Dino Costa out the door, he took a lot of people with him. A lot of people I have talked to, who currently subscribe to SXM, are considering not renewing their subscriptions. Maybe Wendy’s is hiring because a few “experts” might be looking for a job flipping cheeseburgers after engineering this programming bust.

I loved Dinos style but he pushed the envelope way too much…he had tons of freedom but when you start biting the hands that feed you you can last do long. Mad dog russo steve torre and now sportzone were the many targets of Dino over the 5+ years. I hope Dino lands somewhere where i can hear him cause i will miss him.

It isn’t that Dino was the best sport analyst in the sports world. when we wanted the basic stuff we can get that anywher else. But when we wanted something different, conrary to main stream, an outside the envelop discussion, we went to Dino… It is too bad that he sometimes went overboard, and pissed off his bosses, but they should have understood the methodology of evoking discussions that were beyond the main stream… Please bring him back….

You can tell that the moron who wrote this piece (Sherwood) that he’s probably one of the idiots that tried to give his 2-cents on one of Dino’s shows and got flamed. But then again…he’s from the twisted city, so I guess it makes sense. Hey DUMBASSSS, who’s going to listen to Dino when he comes back on??? About 90% of us that follow football and other major sports. Apparently you’re the only idiot that doesn’t like him.

I can not believe sirius got rid of Dino the only guy who makes any sense.I listened to all the other sport stations and its all the same old opinions of egotistics,Russo is lame, Dan Patrick is boring,Adam Shine is a suck up,Please get Dino back, I guess the great minds at sirius think that putting station 102 porn is better for the public then listening to a I smart man who you cant turn away from.Good luck Dino hope your on the air soon because I cant wait to hear what you will say next your awesome. I will be getting rid of my 2 subscriptions of sirius now.

Dino Costa an example of someone so insecure that he chose to belittle others to make himself look better. He tried hard to obscure, and if you have to try so hard, then its not genuine. We never learned anything from him other than Dino had all of the answers in addition to all of his “my opinion is so irreverent” blurbs that just rang hollow.

Dino should never have been fired. He was never given a legit chance to grow. He never had backing by Torre,Russo or any other sirius bigs. He was a scape goat and his friends or so called ones at the station set him up and left him out to dry.

All I have to say is: It’s about time! The man wants to be Rush Limbaugh instead of a hard-hitting sports show host. Granted, when Dino talked sports, he was uncompromising and entertaining. But, when I turn on the show and hear him call the Sandy Hook massacre a hoax, that was the last straw.

Talent or not, he should never work in radio again. Let him work on a ranch in Cheyenne for minimum wage.

For all of you who are going to cancel your subscriptions, I just have to say I feel sorry for you. There are more than 100 other channels available on Sirius, including Howard Stern, so there’s more than enough for everyone. Get over it.

Dino shouldn’t be doing sports. He needs a radio station for ego maniacs who like to talk about themselves and how great they are. I would listen to hear sports but instead had to endure his Howardesk rants about how everyone sucks but him. This is the formula Stern used but sports is, in my opinion, the wrong place to brag how great you are. It’s fun to hear once or twice but when it becomes the basis of the show, it becomes boring and repetitive. Seriously????

I cant believe they fired Dino Costa .. WTF? When Dino went to mornings I actually stopped listening to Howard and tuned into Dino, because to me, he was the perfect mix of sports talk and howards sterns aggressive shock style .. Howard doesnt watch sports, which is weird, and I though Dino brought both of those worlds together .. Idiots at Sirius . Horrible decision .. DIno is the man ..

They were wrong to fire Dino. I started listening to him at night when I was painting my kitchen last year. I thought he was the best sports guy in a long time. He told things that people were thinking and did not say. Big deal he ranted a lot, that’s what made him different. It was like listening to a friend that was angry about something. I will not renew Sirius when my time is up unless they get him back! Neither will my friends!

While Dino Costa was somewhat entertaining and certainly opinionated in the extreme, his crime – if there was one – is that many of his rants defied common sense, good logic and simple fairness.

For an example: His stance against pro football trying to become a bit safer in a very dangerous game essentially stated that players should accept the risks they were forced by their profession to accept and shut up about the history of mental injuries. Specifically, he was aghast that injured players would stoop to sue the NFL – – despite the severe mental illnesses that have come to light in recent years, despite the cover ups by NFL managment that also have been brought to light– because all such players were “biting the hands that fed them.”
Costa saw this as unconscionable, based, as he often stated– on his own selfish preference to see football played, with the gladiator mentality it “used to be played.”

Another of his rants often focused his criticisms on women sports. At their core, his views were so negative and hostile, completely without any redeeming constructive value. And, as discriminating listeners realized, such views obviously were aimed at the yahoos in his audience who would second the motion for any such view as if their agreement with him promoted their own masculinity.

Also: Costa’s self indulging commentaries, which usually could be heard once or twice a night, were overburdened by so much self praise and unfair ridicule of other talk show hosts.

While I would be the last person to say that many sports talk shows are filled with deep thinking and provocative commentary worth review, Costa made this a rallying point beyond anything fair. He could not help himself it seemed but to always deny the possiblity that rational points of view were ever expressed anywhere else and he carried this extremely high, completely absurd point of view to the point of conjuring up phony ‘wars’ with Christopher ‘Mad Dog’ Russo over Russo’s points of view, despite the fact that Russo was the man for whom XM radio created the station Costa was appeared on.
Beyond honest differences being expressed, this reeked of a self promtioonal charade to inflate his own ego, many times a week.

Costa’s rants against management may have been the straw that broke the Camel’s back, but he problably will wear his firing as a false symbol of his uniqueness, serving no positive lesson to him, or to Mad Dog Radio, or the XM/Sirius Satellite network primarily because his firing came long after he had exposed himself as a loud-mouth-know -it all, with little tolerance for opposing views and a dogmatic attitude that turned off more intelligent listeners than he or the ratings people can possibly count. While I did tune him in from time to time, I usually had to tune him out within 15 minutes after I made that mistake.

As for Russo, he probably was at his best when joined at the hip with Mike Francesca on WFAN in New York for two decades, but his interviews with top sports personalities on his station still are among the best on radio or TV . And in my view, he still produces excellent hours of very good talk-show radio many times a month.

At the bottom line, Russo does not deserve the harsh criticism he is getting from Costa’s band of malcontented followers who ignored the latter’s extreme negativity. Sadly, that is a loose, but real statement about our great country in the here and now. We have way too many extremely disenfranchised, disatisfied people walking amongst us and a good percentage of them tend to support the views of other malcontents and extremists like Costa wherever they surface.
Costa probably will resurface somewhere; but I doubt seriously he will have learned anything from his dismissal.

Who the fuck is Tim sabean, other than some behind the scenes loser?? Dino was by far the most talented host on all of sxm, and the reason I got my subscription. I will be canceling it now bc the rest of Sirius is a fucking joke.

When Dino was on I tuned in. Wether I agreed or disagreed with him. Listening to him made me think about the issues. So much better than listening to Espn players alway take side of players for no real reason. 100 times better than listen to most sports talk guys/ gals who all say the same thing over and over again. Someone else needs to be held accountable at xm. The man who let him go.

Canceling my subscription now. No Dino and no Art Bell? = yOU gONE you clueless Sirius deciders. When will they get it Jim? Maybe when it hits their pocket books and those who pay them fire their self righteous selves. 😉

Like most people I believe this was a bad move. Dino was one guy that would have held me in as a lifetime subscriber after Howard Stern leaves. Now this move, coupled with the fact that we are paying all this money and there are still millions of commercials on SiriusXM, makes me confident that I will be cancelling both our subscriptions when Howard hangs it up. I for one would be willing to stay with your company if you brought Dino back.

Dino Costa simply put is a ratings maker ! ! Just like the late Howard
Cosell, the people that hated him tuned him in just to get their blood
pressure elevated. Nobody approached the level of preparedness that
Dino brought to each and every show. The biggest knock I ever had was that his show was a mere four hours long. Dino’s greatest attribute though was his unique creative style of interviewing that made him a must listen to. He had (has) the ability to make the mundane relevant and interesting no matter what the subject and it is
SIRIUSXM that is the biggest loser.